


The One Where Octavia Is Pretty Much Always Right

by Hello21



Series: The One Where Max Is A Traitor [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, POV Octavia, Secret Relationship, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 01:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4460357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hello21/pseuds/Hello21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Octavia knew something was up with Bellamy, despite that no one else believed her. He was being weird and it was driving her mad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where Octavia Is Pretty Much Always Right

**Author's Note:**

> My first 100 fanfic, this kind of got out of control, but I'm pretty happy with it. I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Also I might do a Bellamy and or Clarke POV, so if people are interested they should let me know.
> 
> In case anyone was curious, here's a link to Octavia's wedding [Dress ](http://amykuschel.com/gowns/babe)  
> [](http://amykuschel.com/gowns/babe)  
> 

The summer’s mugginess was dying down as August was coming to an end. It was a beautiful day, warm and pleasant, it was the perfect weather for relaxing and having fun.

It was a shame Octavia couldn’t enjoy herself.

She grumpily sat down on a lawn chair, taking a sip from her beer, furiously running her hand through her hair out of frustration. She wanted to join the festivities of Jasper’s birthday with everyone else, but just couldn’t. She glanced over to her brother flipping burgers on the grill, something was up with him. She just knew it.

He had been acting strange since July, maybe even June.

It didn’t matter that Miller thought Bellamy was the same as ever or Harper and Monroe hadn’t noticed any change in him. Or that Raven and Wick would raise their eyebrows at her, like she was going crazy. Or that Jasper and Monty would start humming the twilight zone theme when she brought it up.

The only person who would actually listen to her, was Lincoln and that was because he had to put up with her day and night. He would just shrug, having not notice any changes, but would state in reassurance that she knew her brother far better than he did. Even he thought that it was all in her head and she was overreacting.

It didn’t matter though, none of it did, Octavia knew Bellamy and he was being weird. The others didn’t know Bellamy, not like she knew him. He wasn’t their brother, friend, guardian, and parent all rolled up into one. They hadn’t known him since birth. They didn’t know him like she did.

Something was up with her brother and it was driving her mad.

Her brother was a grumpy old man in a young man’s body, most things annoyed him and he especially didn’t like change. Yet there he was happily humming away, grilling away and even letting some food fall on the ground for his dog, Max. It just didn’t make any sense.

His house had been taken over for a party and he barely put up a fight. There were a bunch of new people in his life now, that he had to interact with and he was just going along with it.

Miller had all but officially moved out to live with Monty and Bellamy was no more sulky than usual.

Hell, Octavia was engaged and he was perfectly fine, even being helpful and involved in the wedding planning. Sure, when she first told him, he hadn’t exactly been thrilled but then he just mellowed out. Now he was actively participating in her wedding, he was still making snarky comments and complaining about the cost of everything, but that was it. It was weird and it was making her feel on edge.

Octavia had been ready to drag Bellamy out of a hermit lifestyle, once Miller had practically left, but she hadn’t need too. There was no sign of hermit Bell anywhere, which was just weird. Miller and Octavia were practically his lifelines to a normal social life, without them he would just stay on his couch and watch boring documentaries. And yet she hadn’t need to drag him out into daylight and force him to socialize with other humans.

He was even socializing without Miller or her; taking Max to dog parks, going to boring old museums, he even helped Clarke out with some problem she had at the gallery. Hell before she could even ask him, let alone force him to help Lincoln with his exhibit opening, Bellamy had already offered his services and truck.

That was all rather odd, but none of those incidents raised any red flags for her. The real concern was when she told Bellamy about her engagement to Lincoln, she had been mentally and physically prepared to fight Bellamy on the subject. And sure he had been a major pain in her ass for the first two weeks, but then he not only mellowed out about the whole thing, but he even apologized to her.

Octavia had expected him to eventually get on board with the idea that she was getting married, but not so quickly and especially not without some major effort on her part.

She rubbed her temple, even when her brother wasn’t even really doing anything, he still managed to find a way to give her a headache. She smiled though, when Max rested his head on her lap, abandoning his attempt for food to comfort her.

Max was a big German Shepard and Husky mutt, who Bellamy had adopted almost three years ago. He had barely been a year old when he had been rescued from a dog fighting ring. Despite his sad story, the shelter had no hope of him being adopted, since he would growl, bark and try to attack every single thing in his line of sight.

She supposed not much had changed. While Max was absolutely loyal and obedient to Bellamy and adored her, he was less than friendly to anyone else. He accepted Miller and Lincoln, even allowing them to pet him and take him on walks, but that was it. For everyone else he tolerated their existence, if even that.

Max looked up at her with those big brown eyes, as though he could tell she was thinking about him. She couldn’t help but kiss him on his nose, he was an absolute sweetheart, perhaps a bit overprotective, but he was Bell’s dog, she wouldn’t expect anything else.

She continued to pet him, watching the party go on. Jasper was already pretty drunk, he had pregamed with Raven, Wick and Monty with some of their moonshine and it was definitely showing. He had climbed onto a table and began to serenade, Maya, his girlfriend of five months. He was terrible, but Octavia couldn’t help but smile, Jasper was still the loveable guy she had met freshmen year.

Maya happily applauded and was now trying to talk him down from the table, but to no avail as he began to sing to Wick. Maya shook her head in defeat and headed towards Octavia, only to pause when Max started to growl and bare his teeth as she approached.

“Max, no,” Octavia scolded and he quieted down, she waved Maya to continue. “Don’t mind him, he’s a big old grump like Bell, but he’s harmless.”

Murphy snorted, “That dog is as harmless as Jasper is sober right now.”

“Ignore him, he’s an idiot.” Maya smiled at that, but was still hesitant to join Octavia with Max right there.

“Hey O,” she turned to look at Bellamy. “Can you refill the cooler with some ice and beer?”

“Sure. Come on Maxi.” She patted her leg as she got up and Max happily followed.

She placed the cooler on the counter and was putting the beers in when the doorbell rang and Max began to bark up a storm. Octavia sighed, hoping it wasn’t the neighbors complaining about the noise.

“Max stop. Sit.” Max immediately sat down, but his eyes never left the door and a low growl was still coming from him. To her surprise it was Clarke, all dressed up with two wine bottles in her hand.

“Hi.” Clarke said brightly.

“Hey, come on in.” Max barked happily and circled around Clarke and nudged her leg, she reached down and petted him briefly. “You know you could have just come in. If I wasn’t in the kitchen, no one would have heard the bell to let you in.”

A light blush appeared on the blonde’s cheeks, “I didn’t want to be rude and just let myself in.”

Octavia shrugged, heading back to the kitchen, Clarke and Max close behind.

She glanced back at Clarke, taking note of her fancy summer dress, pinned up hair, high heels, and jewelry. “Please tell me that’s not your idea of casual wear.”

Clarke frowned looking down. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing,” Octavia said, trying to contain her shit eating grin. “It’s just not casual, like not at all.”

Clarke huffed. “This is casual. How is this not casual?”

Octavia quizzically raised her eyebrows at Clarke in disbelief. “This is casual,” she said pointing down to her own outfit of shorts and loose blouse. “You on the other hand look like you’re going to some fancy brunch.”

“Brunches are casual.” Clarke said defensively.

“Well you would know, princess.” Clarke rolled her eyes at the nickname, putting down her purse as she lightly scratched Max behind his ear.

“What’s with the wine bottles?” Octavia asked.

“Oh. It’s a gift for you and Bellamy, you know for hosting this party. I wasn’t really sure if you liked white or red, so I thought since there are two of you, you could both get one. Bellamy can just get whichever wine you like the least or you can take both and not tell him.” Clarke rambled on.

Octavia bit down on her lip, trying not to laugh. “You are absolutely adorable, but shouldn’t you’ve gotten a gift for Jasper, it’s his birthday after all.”

Clarke waved the comment off. “I already gave him his present.”

Octavia nodded and opened the freezer to grab a bag of ice.

“Do you need any help?”

“Nah, I’m good. Join the party, but be warned Jasper is beyond drunk and is currently singing to anyone and everyone.”

Clarke grinned, “Good to know.” She headed to the backyard and Octavia smiled. She was glad that she had become friends with Clarke.

When Octavia had first met Clarke, she hadn’t like her. She was a standoffish rich girl, whose smile never seemed genuine. Clarke was cold to say the very least, but Octavia was nice for the sake of Jasper and Maya. She assumed Maya just invited her along because she worked with Clarke at Mt. Weather’s Gallery.

Truthfully Octavia didn’t have any real reason to dislike Clarke. She was just prickly, but that wasn’t exactly a good reason to dislike the woman. Especially considering her own brother’s personality s and the fact that she willing socialized with Murphy.

However her dislike of Clarke was soon justified once it became known that she was the girl Raven’s old high school boyfriend cheated on her with when they were in college. Octavia wasn’t going to lie, it felt good to have a reason to dislike Clarke, but Raven had laughed the situation away. Saying that she would have probably been married to Finn by now and would have walked home to a mistress he would no undoubtedly have.

With Raven’s approval, Octavia did try to Clarke a second chance and to her surprise she found out that she did genuinely like Clarke. Despite the fact she was pretty sure the woman didn’t own a goddamn pair of jeans. Really it would be hard for anyone not to like Clarke, once you got passed her prickly defenses.

She was like Bellamy and Max in that regard.

Octavia turned around, surprised to find that Max wasn’t with her, he must have followed Clarke back to the yard.

Octavia herself returned to the party, Lincoln wrapping his arms around her while Jasper began to sing her praises for bringing more alcohol. While she couldn’t quite shake her concerns for her brother away, she was able to put them in the back of her mind for the rest of the party.

~*~

Octavia flipped through her wedding magazines, tapping her pen against the bar’s counter, while Bellamy was going over inventory and bills. It was Sunday night, his restaurant TonDC had been closed for the past few hours and it was just the two of them.

It was nice spending some alone time with her brother, even with the two of them not really doing anything. Octavia felt like she hadn’t spent any real time with Bellamy since September and it was now November.

It was just nice. She loved her friends and being around people in general, but sometimes nothing came close to just being with her brother. It was like putting on Lincoln’s old college sweatshirt during a stormy night, nothing was as comfortable or felt more like being home.

It was the only good thing about the night.

Planning a wedding or even just looking for a dress should be fun, but it wasn’t. It was awful. All the dresses were either way too ugly or way too expensive, some were even both. Many of them should not be the prices they were, considering how much fabric they were actually made of. Octavia was all for showing skin, but some of these dresses made her question people’s sanity and fashion sense.

Though she was tempted to freak Bell out with one of those dresses, if just for a laugh.

She had scoured through websites, stores, and magazines. She was about to give up when she saw it.

She paused staring at the magazine page. There is was, the most gorgeous wedding dress she had ever seen. Her wedding dress. It was perfect.

“O, no.” She looked up at Bellamy, mouth slightly open. “What? Why? Why not?” She nearly whined.

He tapped the page, “It costs more than your rent. You can’t spend that kind of money for a dress you’re only going to wear for one day. It’s ridiculous.”

She frowned, “That one day is my wedding day.”

Bellamy sighed. “I know that O. And I want it to be special, I really do. But if you get that dress, there goes a good portion of the budget.”

“You’re right. It’s just…” She paused, she was being silly, it was just a dress.

“It’s just what?” Bellamy asked.

“I guess it’s the first dress I could really see myself in. I mean-” She ran her hand through her hair, pulling at some knots. “When I saw the picture, I could see my wedding. But you’re right, it’s way too expensive and there are other dresses.”

“O.” Bellamy looked guilty, like he ruined all her dreams. It was an expression she was use too, no matter how hard Bellamy tried or how great he actually was, he always seemed to think he was messing things up for her.

“It’s fine, really. Besides don’t you think I would look better in something like this?” She turned the page, showing a dress that closely resembled something she would only wear for Lincoln.

He turned around, shutting his eyes. “Jesus Christ. Why would you show me that? I’m going to be scarred for life.”

She laughed at Bellamy’s overreaction and while he was still turned around she quietly ripped the page of her dream dress. _Just for reference, of course._

For a few minutes they went back to what they were doing before, until Octavia paused realizing what just happened.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What?” Bellamy looked up at her, his face scrunched up in confusion, not know where this was coming from.

“Seriously something is happening with you and I want to know what.”

Bellamy frowned, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He turned back to his bills and Octavia huffed, she was not going to be ignored. She snapped her fingers at him, much to his annoyance.

“No,” she was practically hissing at this point.

“No, you’re not going to blow this off like everyone else. Something is up, you have been weird since like July, okay. And it’s not just in my head, you are acting so different. Seriously Bell we, WE, just had a nice normal conversation about wedding dresses and money.” She gestured wildly at all his papers. “While you’re doing inventory and paying bills, two things that you loathe doing. And I’m getting married and you’re perfectly happy with it. And we’re talking about weddings dresses, which you have said multiple times are completely overrated. And my god Bellamy, you hate spending money.”

“I don’t hate-”He tried to interrupt her.

“You HATE spending money, especially on stuff you’ve deemed frivolous and stupid. Like weddings and wedding dresses, and you’re being so nice and calm about it all. It’s just weird, okay. You’re being super supportive and nice and helpful and I feel like I am going crazy. You realize that you are actively participating and helping me out with my wedding, right? I mean seriously what the hell?” Octavia stared at him, breathless and flushed.

A hurt look crossed his face. “You don’t want me to help out?”

Guilt stabbed her in the chest. “No, I do. It’s just that…” She trailed off, not sure where to go from there. He looked so hurt by the thought that she didn’t want him to help out with the wedding.

Maybe she was blowing this all out of proportion.

Octavia took a deep breath to collect herself. “I do want you to be part of the wedding. I’m sorry, it’s not your fault.”

She reached across the counter to grab his hands. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you. It’s just been stressful with the wedding and everything, more than I thought it would be. And Lincoln’s been working more hours at the tattoo parlor and when he’s not there he’s working on his sculptures and I feel like I haven’t seen him in forever. I’ve also started to teach some more classes and it’s just a lot.”

“It’s okay, O. Really, I’m sorry things have been so stressful.” He squeezed her hands and there on his face was that stupid big brother look, the one she both loved and hated. “I’m sorry if I have been acting strange, but nothing is going on.”

She nodded.

“Let me just finish up here and I’ll take you home.” He gave her hands one last squeeze.

They drove back to her apartment in comfortable silence. When he pulled up, she paused, chewing her bottom lip relentlessly. “If something was wrong, you would tell me, right?” She asked quietly.

Bellamy smiled fondly at her. “Nothing is wrong, I promise.”

She did honestly feel better climbing up the stairs. It felt good to get all of that off her chest, she did not do well with bottling things up.

She was excited when she entered her apartment, feeling happy and light. That was until she went to show Lincoln the dress she had fell in love with, only to find the torn page was missing.

~*~

Sadly, Octavia’s acceptance that nothing was up with her brother, didn’t last very long. Every few days she found herself ranting incessantly to Lincoln. Tonight was no different as she decorated their small Christmas tree. Lincoln didn’t even try to help her with decorating or as she liked to call it getting in her way. He had learned the hard way from years of living with her.

“I’m mean it’s just so not Bell. Did I tell you that he gave everyone at the restaurant the night off last week? Apparently he said that they all needed a break.”

“Well that was nice of him,” he said casually, not even bothering to look up from his book.

“Nice? Nice?!! My brother is practically scrooge when it comes to work. I mean something is definitely wrong. What if he’s dying of cancer?” Octavia nearly dropped the ornament at the thought. “Oh my god, he’s dying. Oh my god, I can’t breathe.” She clutched her chest, trying not to hyperventilate.

Lincoln rolled his eyes at her and closed his book. “Your brother is not dying.”

“How the hell would you know?” She snapped at him, “You’re not a doctor.”

Lincoln sighed and got up from the couch and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them soothingly. “You’re brother isn’t dying. You’ve said that he overall seems less worried and stressed out, even I’ve noticed that he seems happier.”

“Exactly. It’s just wrong,” Octavia paused. “I know that sounded like I don’t want him to be happy, but that’s not what I meant.”

Lincoln gave her one of his rare smiles and she leaned into him, embracing his stoic calmness.

“It’s just that there is no reason for him to be like this. I mean he deserves to be happy, but nothing has changed for him, at least not for the better. Miller has officially moved out and we’re getting married. He’s been so invested and supportive of it all. He’s even offered to cater for us. And I just want to know what’s going on with him.” Octavia said, breathing in Lincoln’s cologne.

She felt him tightened his hold on her and she looked up at him, only to see that he was looking anywhere but at her.

“Have you considered, that maybe you’re projecting?” He asked softly.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, “Projecting?”

“Maybe you’re the one who’s not really happy with the idea of getting married, but you have no way of expressing that. So you’re projecting everything you're feeling into what you think Bellamy should be doing and saying.”

She wanted to laugh, but the look on his face concerned her. She reached for his face, making sure he was looking right at her.

“You honestly think I don’t want to marry you?”

“No.” He sighed, “Maybe…I don’t know. You seem awfully bothered by the fact your brother hasn’t tried to put a stop to the engagement or hasn’t attempted to murder me yet.”

“I’m pretty sure you could take my brother,” she said, trying to make a joke.

“Yeah, because that’s main concern there, whether or not I can _take_ your brother.”

She put both hands on his cheeks and lightly kissed him. “I want to marry you. I want to be with you and there is not a single doubt in my mind, I promise. I want you and only you.”

“I know that,” he murmured.

“Really? Because you seem to have forgotten. Remember when I found your ring by accident-”

Lincoln chucked, “Sure accidently.”

She slapped him hard on the shoulder and continued speaking. “When I accidently found your ring, I practically demanded that you proposed to me right then and there.”

Lincoln had a full-fledged smile on his face now. “Give yourself some credit, you managed to wait a week before you finally snapped at me to get on with it.”

Octavia burst out laughing, “That was one of the most difficult weeks of my life. I felt like I was going crazy.”

Lincoln was laughing with her, his hands tracing small circles on the skin of her waist.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted herself to kiss him. When she pulled away, he followed her lips. He walked them towards the couch, pulling her down onto his lap. She pulled on his lip with her teeth and he groaned, shifting his hips upwards to her.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips. “And you love me.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I do.”

~*~

Octavia’s annual Christmas party was going great, despite the fact that Bellamy had been against the party much to her annoyance. However he eventually caved when she promised him no New Year’s Eve party.

It was kind of nice seeing him be the same old grumpy Bellamy. With her taking over is house with obnoxious Christmas junk, friends and strangers (to him) in his house, and an overly cheerful atmosphere Bellamy was back to his old scrooge self. Sure dealing with Bellamy for the past week had been like banging her head against a brick wall, but it was something she was use to and knew how to deal with it.

She smiled as she watched her friends mingled together to silly Christmas songs. Right now Raven and Wick were the center of attention showing off their robot Santa (a Roomba with a Santa hat being pulled by eight remote control cars). Mostly everyone she knew (and liked) was getting nice and tipsy, special thanks to Jasper and Monty’s special eggnog. Harper, Monroe and Sterling had already left for the holidays to be with their own families.

Clarke rented a small cabin up in the mountains for two weeks and had left yesterday. Octavia had tried to convince her to stay for the party, but no such luck.

Octavia was concerned, no one should be alone at this time of the year, but she respected Clarke’s Christmas wishes. She wanted to be alone and had made a point of her secret getaway to be remote and a secret, and Octavia was going to give that to her, despite the fact she strongly didn’t want to. Clarke had already given everyone their presents and sent her love and best wishes.

Octavia beamed into her eggnog, she couldn’t help it she loved this time of year. Nothing beat Christmas, it was the time when people were brought together with love and material goods. It was her favorite time of year and had been since she was a little girl.

She remembered her mom baking cupcakes and cookies on Christmas Eve. At the time they couldn’t exactly afford a TV, so her mom would tell her all the stories about Santa Claus and then Bell would take over and tell her the real history of Christmas, much to her mom’s horror, especially since she seemed to love those stories more. Octavia would always wait up to see Santa, but despite her best efforts she could never stay awake long enough to see him and Bellamy would carry her to bed.

Christmas morning was even better, as soon as the sun was up she would be jumping on Bell’s bed and demand presents and food. Her mom would make a feast of peppermint chocolate waffles, with dyed red and green eggs, and tons of delicious greasy bacon. While her mom was cooking her and Bell would search the apartment for presents, since they didn’t have a tree and Santa could get creative with where he put the presents.

Christmas was always the most fun and exuberant time of the year, no matter their situation.

She turned to see Bellamy sitting in his recliner glaring at the door, with a skewed Santa hat on his head. Max was at his feet, too tired to even glare at all the people in his home, having gorged himself on so much food. Octavia quickly took a picture and posted it on Facebook, annoyed Bellamy was tradition, as much as the party itself.

She sat on the arm of the chair and tried to hand him a cup of eggnog, but he declined and continued to glare. Octavia frowned, while he was never as high on the Christmas spirit as she was, this was a bit much. Bell has been in an awful and depressing mood for almost a whole week and she was starting to worry.

“So Mr. Scrooge, what’s eating at you?” She asked, nudging him.

“Nothing.” She raised her eyebrow at him, not believing him for a second. “It’s just been a really crappy week.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing in particular. It’s just been one of those weeks, you know?”

Octavia nodded, she didn’t quite believe him, but despite her natural instinct and inclination to pry, she kept her mouth shut.

“Oh, I have something to cheer you up.” She ran to the Christmas tree, giving Lincoln a quick peck on the lips when she passed him.

“Oomph,” Bellamy exclaimed as she threw the heavy present onto his lap.

“What’s this?”

“Clarke’s present, you missed when we opened all our presents from our fallen friends.”

“O, they’re not here for Christmas, not dead.”

She shrugged. “Open it. Open it. Open it.” She urged, eager to see what Clarke had gotten him.

Raven and Octavia had tried to warn Clarke that Bellamy was impossible to get presents for. He was even worse than Octavia, at least she loved gift cards and had a preapproved gift list that people could buy from. Bell just claimed he didn’t care or didn’t want anything. He was the absolute worst person to shop for.

Clarke though had been adamant that she had gotten him the perfect gift and from the gifts she gotten everyone else, Octavia was now a believer. Clarke seemed to be some kind of gift giving messiah.

Bellamy ripped through the wrapping and there, much to her disappointment, was just some book. While Bellamy did love to read, that had definitely been a letdown.

Except Bellamy was staring at the book like it was made of gold and jewels. Octavia didn’t understand and she leaned in to read the title:

 _Greek Mythologies: The Legends That Live Today_  

Bellamy Blake

Octavia's mouth was opened, she didn’t know what to say, that was her brother’s book. The one he had been working on for years, the one that he had all but given up trying to get published. There it was, printed and everything. She knew that Clarke had offered to help Bellamy with it, but this was something else.

Octavia felt her eyes watered as she continued to stare at the book with her brother, she wiped away a tear.

“Screw Jesus and Santa Roomba, we should be paying homage to Clarke.”

Bellamy just nodded.

Soon others came to see what had enraptured the Blake siblings and cheers and congratulations were given to Bellamy.

Octavia kissed him on the cheek and gave him a bone crushing hug, “You’re a published author Bell.”

In Clarke’s note, they learned that the book wouldn’t come out for a couple more months and it would mostly be available as an e-book, but Clarke had managed to get a printed hardcopy just for Bellamy.

After that even Bellamy couldn’t be a scrooge, he smiled and drank and joined the party in full force. He even shared a kissed with Roma under the mistletoe and the two disappeared for a while.

Clarke really was a gift giving messiah and anyone who said otherwise was talking blasphemy and needed to be stoned.

~*~

Octavia angrily moved the eggs around in the skillet, Lincoln was eyeing her warily.

It was Christmas morning and she was less than happy, a sign of the apocalypse if any.

Some asswipe at the Publishing House had wanted to talk to Bellamy about the book and apparently it couldn’t wait until after Christmas and had to be done in person, because apparently phones or skype just didn’t exist. And Bellamy the jerk he was agreed and had drove off two days ago.

She was happy for Bellamy, she really was. Hell she was probably the most thrilled about the upcoming book than anyone else, with the exception of Bellamy. But it was Christmas and Bellamy wasn’t here and he even took Max on his stupid little trip. And it was all just stupid and she was angry.

The phone rang from the third time that morning and she glared at Lincoln as he went to pick it up and he lowered his hand, giving her that look of disappointment. She was not being unreasonable, Bellamy had abandoned her on Christmas, the time for family and love and presents. Her favorite time of the whole entire year and he just left.

“Hey O, I know you're mad at me, but I really needed to do this. I’m sorry. I know how much Christmas means to you and it being the holiday of being with your family, but I am with my-” Bellamy paused, “I’m with Max and while he’s no Christmas morning with you and Lincoln, I am having a nice time. I know that’s not what you want to hear, so to make it up to you, you can-”

Bellamy sighed as though he was in actual physical pain. “You can throw a New Year’s Eve party at my place and I won’t even utter a single-“

Octavia grabbed the phone, “You mean it Bell? Really?”

“Yes.” He said hesitantly.

“I love you so much, this is great. Oh there’s so much for me to do. Thank you. Thank you. This is great.”

“I’m glad to see the spirit of forgiveness has overtaken you.”

Octavia was now the one to be hesitant, “I only get to have this party, if I completely forgive you for this and make no mention of you abandoning me on Christmas from this point on, right?”

He chuckled, “That’s the deal. What do you say?”

“Fine.” She huffed, “I’ll see you in a few days, asshat.”

“Love you too, O. Love you too.”

~*~

Octavia was on her phone relaxing on Bellamy’s couch. It was New Year’s Eve evening and she had finished setting up the decorations. A party with no complaints from her brother needed to be decorated to the fullest extent possible. Bellamy had just come back from his trip and he seemed happy despite Octavia’s excessive decorating.

She was relieved, it seemed like that publishing trip really lifted his spirits and the week of gloom and doom Bell was officially gone.

She went onto Facebook and smiled as she swiped through Clarke’s Christmas getaway album, it seemed like she was having a really good time. Octavia liked the photos of the beautiful snowy pine trees, a pretty fox, some delicious looking chocolate waffles and the paintings Clarke had gotten done over her small vacation.

She was glad Clarke had a nice Christmas and that she would be coming back in a few days.

~*~

Octavia slammed her locker door shut, having just finished showering after teaching her final self-defense class of the day. She loved her class and the workout, but she couldn’t be cheerful, it was icky February.

Her birthday and Valentine’s Day both had already passed, so there was nothing good left in this stupid month. Not quite winter anymore, but not really spring. It was the worst time of year in her opinion and she hated the bleh of it all.

She grabbed her bag and headed out the door, texting Miller on her way out.

 **Octavia 5:47pm:** _Did Bell tell you that he’ll be out of town tonight and he needs you to head over to take care of Max?_

 **Miller 5:48pm:** _No_

Octavia sighed, typical Bellamy.

There was a shipping problem with some liquor Bellamy ordered for TonDC, the problem was that no shipping occurred. Bellamy was beyond pissed off and he refused to pay, _those fucking good for nothing low-life cheats_ any more money. Apparently paying again for the shipping, some pretty damn cheap shipping if she did say so herself, was his final straw.

He decided that he would pick up the liquor himself, spending the rest of the afternoon and night driving to get it. Because apparently that was the more reasonable thing to do and of course he was so pissed off that he forgot to text Miller about Max.

Her brother would be lost without her, she quickly responded back to Miller.

 **Octavia 5:49pm:** _Do you mind doing it?_

She really hoped Miller would do it, as much as she loved Max and her brother (though not right now), all she wanted to do was go home and curl next to Lincoln on the couch.

 **Miller 5:50pm:** _Sure, no problem. I’ll head to the house after my shift and take him on a walk and give him dinner_

She smiled.

 **Octavia 5:50pm:** _Thanks_

Bellamy returned the next day and she didn’t even received a goddamn thank you, for reminding **his** friend to take care of **his** dog. Ungrateful jerk.

~*~

A week later, Octavia was starting her self-defense seminar for beginners, when Clarke quickly entered the room. She smiled at her and waved.

Clarke mentioned a few days ago how she was interested in learning some self-defense and Octavia recommended the month long seminar. Nothing too advance or rigorous, just basic techniques and tips to defuse potentially dangerous situations.

It was set at an easier pace, which Octavia found she needed, since the date of her wedding had been officially set to September and there was still a million things to do. Like finding a goddamn wedding dress.

The class had went by quickly and she waved goodbye as her students left. She checked her phone, to see that Miller had texted her.

 **Miller 4:16pm:** _Did Clarke go to your class?_

She frowned. Why did Miller care if Clarke went to the seminar or not? She couldn’t think really think of any reply, so she simply texted _yes_.

 **Miller 4:18pm:** _Good_

 **Octavia 4:18pm:** _Why do you care?_

 **Miller 4:19pm:** _No reason_

That was strange. It wasn’t like Miller hated Clarke or anything, but they weren’t that close, at least not to her knowledge. Octavia headed to Clarke who was packing up her bag, Clarke couldn’t ignore her as easily.

“Why does Miller care if you took my class or not?” She asked.

Clarke blinked at her in confusion, before anger flashed across her face. “Seriously? He texted you to check if I did this? Unbelievable.” She reached for her own phone and Octavia assumed the person she was furiously texting at now, was an unfortunate Miller.

“Clarke,” Octavia raised her eyebrow at her, waiting for an answer.

Clarke blushed, realizing how odd this all looked. “It’s nothing, Miller’s just taken some extra concern in my safety and is being obnoxious about it.”

Octavia furrowed her brow in concern. Miller was a cop and he took the safety of his friends pretty seriously. “Did something happen?”

Clarke eyes widened in surprise, “Oh no, nothing happened to me.”

Octavia glared, not believing her.

“Seriously, nothing happened. I swear, Miller just learned how unprepared I would be in a dangerous situation. It’s more embarrassing than anything else.”

Octavia relaxed. “How embarrassing?”

“Embarrassing enough that I’m not going to tell you,” Clarke said brightly.

She pouted, “What if I buy you a couple of drinks? Then will you tell me?”

“Not likely, I’m not really a talkative drunk.”

“Damn.” Octavia sighed dramatically and linked her arm with Clarke’s.

“I really wanted to know some embarrassing stories about you.”

Clarke laughed, “I can tell you some pretty embarrassing high school stories.”

Octavia beamed and they headed to the showers and then to TonDC for drinks and some early dinner.

She almost choked on her drink as Clarke finished telling her about the first time she ever got drunk and she threw up making out with her friend Wells.

“That’s so gross,” Octavia managed to get out in between laughs. “What happened after?”

“My dad came and got us and while we were in the car, Wells threw up on my lap.”

Another burst of laughter came out, drawing attention from several of the other patrons. “That’s awful. How old were you?”

Clarke paused to think for a second. “I want to say 14, maybe 15. I can’t really remember. I just know that we were both super awkward before and definitely after that incident.”

“Aww, poor little Clarke. I’m guessing there was never a second go at seven minutes in heaven with him.”

“That's a very good guess. Safe to say any romantic feelings we may have had for each other back then, subsequently died that night. But we’re still great friends.” Clarke fumbled for her phone and bit her lip in concentration trying to unlock it, she eventually got it and then showed Octavia the cutest little girl she had ever seen. “That’s my goddaughter, Cece.”

“She's adorable.” Octavia reached for the phone to look at the picture closely. “She’s absolutely precious. I need her. Where do they live? I need to kidnap this little girl right now.”

“Jesus, O. Can you not say that so loud?” Bellamy was standing above them. He had been hovering around them all night long, like some annoying gnat. She shushed him and continued looking at Clarke’s phone, ignoring Bellamy and Clarke’s conversation. They were talking about Clarke wanting kids eventually and it was not as interesting as watching Cece’s ballet recital.

“Seriously though, what’s their address? We can go tonight, Bell can drive and you can lure them into a false sense of security.”

Bellamy groaned before grabbing the phone and handing it back to Clarke. “You need to stop planning the kidnapping of someone else’s child. I’m sure if you ask nicely, Lincoln will gladly give you a hundred and one kids.”

Clarke giggled and Octavia rolled her eyes. “Don’t encourage him, he’ll think he’s actually funny.”

“I’m hilarious.”

“No you’re really not. Now go and get us some more of the alchohols.”

“I’ll be getting you guys some water.”

“Fine, just go. You’re hovering like some damn mother hen.”

Bellamy left with a shit eating grin as he ruffled her hair and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“You guys are adorable,” Clarke said smiling.

“I’m adorable, he’s just an ass.”

She shrugged before vaguely gesturing toward Octavia. “You’re turn, tell me a story.”

“What do you want to hear?” She quickly got excited, “Want to hear embarrassing stories about Bell? I have like a hundred of those.”

Clarke shook her head and Octavia pouted, she wanted to tell embarrassing Bellamy stories.

“How about…” Clarke paused, tapping her chin with a mischievous smile on her face. “How you forced Lincoln to propose to you.”

Octavia gaped at Clarke, “I never forced him. He was very willing to propose. Who said I forced him?”

Clarke tried to hold back her smile, “Everyone.”

“Bastards.” She muttered.

“Come on tell me how you completely didn’t force Lincoln to propose to you.”

“I didn’t force him.” She cleared her throat, “But fine, you deserve the honest truth.”

“Is there any other kind?”

“Silence from the audience.” Octavia took a deep breath for dramatic effect. “So I was cleaning out our bedroom when I accidently came across a small velvet box.”

“Accidently?”

“Yes, accidently. Why does everyone keep questioning that part, I don’t go digging through my fiancée’s stuff.”

“Of course not.”

Octavia glared at Clarke, but continued on, “I accidently, emphasis on the accidently part, came across a small velvet box and well curiosity got the best of me and I opened the box and to my surprise there was this gorgeous ring.”

Clarke interrupted the story again, “To your surprise? What else could have been in that box?”

“Do you want me to tell you the story or not?”

“Yes.”

“Well than silence you. So there was this gorgeous ring, this one to be exact.” Octavia held her hand for Clarke to see and she dramatically oohed and awed at it.

“Well I of course was beyond excited, but I didn’t want to ruin his proposal, so I put the ring back where I accidently found it.”

Bellamy arrived at the table, handing them their waters and snorted, “Accidently my ass.”

Clarke covered up a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Octavia gave her brother a sharp kick to his shin and continued on with her story. “So that week I was really excited and I was trying not to give away the fact that I knew he was going to propose to me. However that became very difficult, as I-”Octavia paused trying to find the right words.

“Have no patience for anything,” Clarke said helpfully.

She opened her mouth to retort, but shrugged. “Basically, yeah. So for that week, I was in my own personal hell, and it was bad. Seriously every time Lincoln bent over or reach for something in his pocket, I would get really excited. One time he asked me if I wanted Thai for dinner and I practically screamed yes before he even finished asking me.”

“Aww poor Octavia. What did he think of that?”

“I think he got bit a suspicious, but I really do love Thai so he chalked it up to that. Finally on what was the eighth day of hell for me, we were having a nice romantic dinner and I thought for sure this would be the night, but nothing happened. We were finishing dessert and I finally broke and demanded to know if he was ever going to propose to me. He then took the ring out and proposed to me right then and there.”

Clarke put her hand over her heart, “Aww, so he was going to propose to you that night.”

Octavia shook her head, “No. I mean he was planning on doing it, but then chickened out.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He had the ring for like four months, I learned that there were a lot of almost proposals, but he always got so nervous that he couldn’t do it. Apparently all he could think about was me saying no and that would be the end of the relationship, so he didn’t want to ruin anything.”

“That’s both really sweet and really sad.”

Octavia nodded, putting her hand over the ring and smiling. “And that’s the story of how I totally did not force Lincoln to propose to me, I just, you know, demanded that he do it right then and there.”

Clarke laughed and Octavia joined her. She hadn’t really spent any one on one time with Clarke and she found that it was actually a lot of fun, minus Bellamy being all weird and always a few feet away from their table.

The two of them continued to share stories, each one becoming less embarrassing as they sobered up. Bellamy left Murphy to close the restaurant and took them each back home, Octavia was first and she waved goodbye to Clarke in the car as Bellamy helped her into the building. She was still pretty tipsy, but managed to shove him away when they got to her apartment, telling him to go take Clarke home.

She smiled at the sight of Lincoln on his tablet in their bed and decided that crawling over him to get to her side, made much more sense than walking around the bed. She snuggled to his side after she took off her bra and pants and he wrapped his arm around her.

“Just so you know, I want like a hundred and one children,” Octavia yawned.

Lincoln hummed in response. “Good to know, I’ll get started on that tomorrow.”

She nodded and muttered something she didn’t really comprehend and her eyes became heavy and she was soon asleep. The last thing she remembered was Lincoln pressing a kiss to her head.

~*~

Octavia sloppily kissed Bellamy on the cheek. She loved her big brother, she had the best big brother in the whole entire world.

Apparently Bellamy had took the magazine page of her dream dress and scoured everywhere for it at a reasonable price. He found it at a store about an hour drive away and he announced to her that day, that they were going dress hunting again. She didn’t think much of it at the time.

Bellamy drove with her in the passenger seat and Raven, Harper and Clarke all squeezed in the back. In the last few weeks Octavia had spent more and more time with Clarke, and she was quickly becoming one of her closest friends.

They walked into the small boutique and Clarke explained to her that the shop got dresses right off the runaway, so if they found a dress they had to buy it as it was. Octavia shrugged and look through their selection, until Bellamy led her to the dressing room, telling her he wanted her to try on a dress he had picked out.

And there it was, her dress. She tried not to cry, but she was so happy. She knew it was just a dress, but at the same time it wasn’t. She quickly turned around and almost tackled Bellamy to the ground and she buried herself in his chest and cried.

He was laughing and rubbing her back, “O you haven’t even tried it on, don’t thank me just yet.”

Octavia stepped back and wiped her tears away, she quickly gave him one last squeeze before squealing and running to the try on her dress. She felt like a little kid.

It didn’t quite fit perfectly, but she was sure either she or Bellamy could alter it. It was still perfect though and when she stepped out, Bellamy began to tear up.

Clarke placed a flower crown on her head and when Octavia looked at her questioningly, she just shrugged. “Maya and I made it, it’s not quite like the picture, but we thought you would like it and if you don’t-” She didn’t get to finish because Octavia was giving her a bone crushing hug that knocked the breath out of her.

Harper laughed, “I’m assuming she likes it.”

Octavia pulled back and suddenly frowned, “Is that why Lincoln measured my head a week ago?”

Raven burst out laughing, “I’m surprised you didn’t catch on when that happened.”

She huffed, “He’s an artist. He does weird stuff like that.” She turned back to mirror and smoothed out the dress.

They bought it and left once they all managed to convince her that she couldn’t keep wearing it. Octavia couldn’t stop smiling. When they were driving back to the city, Raven declared that the afternoon was far too girly for her likely and they should do a round of shots in celebration.

And that’s where she was now, on her fourth tequila shot, singing and shouting Bellamy’s praises to the whole world or just TonDC.

He chucked and gave her a kiss on the head, “You should really thank Harper and Clarke. Harper was the one who found out at that designers sell their dresses from the runway to boutiques and Clarke was the one who found said boutique and even managed to convince them to lower the price.”

She nudged him, “Not you?”

“I was fully prepared to pay their full price and then Clarke started haggling them.” He paused, “It was pretty hot actually.”

“Your perfect woman,” she jokily said and Bellamy choked on his drink, but she wasn’t paying attention to him anymore, as she went off to find Harper and Clarke to sing their praises. Later Maya and Jasper joined them and Jasper joined her in singing Maya’s praises, for her part in the flower crown.

Raven rolled her eyes at Octavia, as she was finishing telling her the great story of how Bellamy found her perfect dress for her.

“I know Octavia, I was there. I was even part of the searching part of said dress and the whole surprising you with it.”

She shushed her, “I’m telling a story.”

Raven just laughed, “I’m happy for you, Pocahontas. Really, you deserve it.”

She just grinned, “I have the greatest brother in the world.”

“No arguments here.” Raven said. Octavia turned to find her brother to tell him that he was in fact the greatest, when she saw him talking to Echo. Echo had probably been Bellamy’s only real girlfriend, not just a hook up or friend with benefits, or someone he just casually dated.

She paused not wanting to get in the way of the rest of Bellamy’s night. She had always liked Echo and had always kind of wish the two of them had stayed together, for no better reason than she had made Bellamy quite happy.

However, Echo walked away and was soon flirting with some other guys. Octavia frowned she was confused to say the very least. She had never seen that before, but it happened and Bellamy went to rejoin Clarke sitting at a table with Miller and Monty.

He was laughing along with them and he didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he wasn’t going home with Echo or anyone. In fact now that she thought about it, her brother hadn’t really gone home with anyone since last summer.

The realization hit her like a semi-trunk and when Miller walked her back to her place, she was practically bursting, ready to share her discovery with Lincoln.

She jumped on the bed and Lincoln woke up with a start. “I see you’ve been drinking,” he said turning on the desk light.

Octavia shifted towards him so she was straddling him. “No, I just had tequila.”

“Well that’s completely different then,” he commented dryly.

“And maybe a few other drinks, that may have had alcohol in them. It’s a mystery.”

“Not really.” Lincoln said leaning back.

Octavia suddenly remembered why she had been so excited and she slapped his shoulder several times to get his attention again. “I have great and exciting new news.”

“Let me guess, you got your dream dress and a pretty flower crown.” He smugly said, looking quite pleased with himself.

She glared at him and pointed her finger at him accusingly. “You tricked and deceived me, you traitor. You’re not supposed to go behind my back, as my fiancée you’re supposed to help me go behind the backs and fronts of others.”

He softly kissed her on the lips and rested his forehead on hers, “My apologies, but it was for a good cause.”

“I forgive you, because I’m such a wonderful and kind person. Oh! OH! I have such exciting and good news and it’s not the dress. Well the dress is good and exciting, but that’s not this. This is huge. Bellamy has a girlfriend.” She paused, waiting for his reaction to her big news.

He stared at her in disbelief, “You had a drinking competition with Raven, didn’t you?”

Octavia scoffed and raised her arms in triumph. “Ha! Competition my ass, I am the undefeated god of all the alcohol.”

“Of course you are,” Lincoln rolled her onto the bed while he got up, but before he could leave the room she grabbed his arm and pulled herself to the edge of the bed.

“My news though, isn’t it big? Bell has a girlfriend.”

“I didn’t know he was dating anyone.”

“That the point, she’s…what’s the word? She’s a hidden girlfriend, like a skeleton you put in a closet. No wait, that sounds like he murdered someone.” She frowned in confusion, “What word am I thinking of?”

“Secret?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed and clapped her hands. “That’s why I am marrying you, you have all the answers and you just know, you know? Bellamy has a secret girlfriend and she’s a secret.” She looked up at Lincoln, proud that she had figured it out. “That’s why he’s been all weird and wonky, he’s all happy and nice now, because he’s in love and all happy.”

“I’m glad you figured out that your brother has a girlfriend. I am going to go to the kitchen and get you a glass of water, okay?”

She nodded. She could hear him in the kitchen and grinned, she had Lincoln, her dress and a new sister-in-law. Bellamy had a girlfriend, since the summer and he was happy and in love and it was all great.

Octavia paused, Bellamy had a girlfriend since at least August and he never once told her. Why didn’t he tell her? Why didn’t he want her to know? Octavia's mood quickly dropped and by the time Lincoln came back with her water she was crying.

“Octavia?” He quickly rushed to her side, “Are you okay? What happened?”

She sniffled, “Bell has a secret girlfriend.” 

“I know, you told me.”

She shook her head violently, he didn’t understand. “No, he has a girlfriend and he didn’t tell me. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Octavia…” Lincoln softly said, holding her to his side.

“Was he worry that I would ruin it for him?” She asked, “I ruin everything for him. When he got custody over me, he had to drop out of college and he basically stopped dating and hanging out with his friends. Even before our mom died, he was never allowed to be a normal kid or teenager, he always had to take care of me. I ruin everything.”

Lincoln knelt before her and held her hands, “You don’t ruin anything.”

“I do. I ruined Bell’s life, I ruined your proposal, and I’ve just been the worst with the stupid dress and I’m sorry. And I never see you anymore and I’m sad and you think I don’t want to get married and now I’m just a big crying mess and you always have to put up with me and I’m sorry.”

Lincoln squeezed her hands, “I don’t have to put up with anything. I love you.” He handed her the glass of water, “Drink.”

She gulped it all down and sighed, the tears had stopped, but she still felt awful. “Sorry,” she muttered, feeling ashamed for her breakdown.

He chuckled. “It’s fine, but you see this is why we don’t have drinking competitions with Raven.”

“Competition? I won.”

“That's true, but my point remains.” He paused, “You feeling okay? Do you need to go to the bathroom? Want me to get you some more water?”

“No, I’m good.”

Lincoln sat next to her and they stayed like that for a bit. He was one of the best things to ever happen to her.

Octavia tensed up, “That lying good for nothing cheat of a bastard.” The sadness she had felt was soon replaced with anger.

“And there is my lovely angry Octavia.”

“Do not condescend. I can’t believe him. I’ve been here freaking out and losing my mind, worrying about him and he’s off lying to me about his mistress.”

“She wouldn’t be his-” Lincoln tried to interject, but Octavia interrupted him.

“I am going to strangle him. All the times he told me nothing was up or all the times he pretended like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He was lying to my face, my goddamn face Lincoln.” The past year was making more and more sense to her.

“That asshat bastard. I bet he was spending Christmas with her, the most important time of the year and he’s with his secret skeleton girl. I’m such an idiot, what kind of publishing agent demands to speak on Christmas? That bastard, I’m going to kill him.”

Octavia struggled to grab her pants, that were somehow not on her anymore. She soon had them and pulled out her phone, only to have Lincoln snatch it from her hands.

“You can’t call your brother.”

“Lincoln give me my damn phone.”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at him, all her anger redirecting itself toward him. “You knew about this. About the secret girlfriend and everything.”

He rolled his eyes, “No.”

“You’ve already proven yourself to be a traitor, with the lying about the dress.”

“Okay I lied about that, but I know nothing about a secret girlfriend.”

“Then give me my goddamn phone.”

“No.”

“Lincoln!”

“Octavia.”

She huffed and turned away from him, muttering some curses and colorful phrases to describe her less than wonderful fiancée. It wasn’t until he yawned that she turned back towards him. He looked exhausted and Octavia felt immensely guilty, he'd been working really hard for the last couple of months.

“Sorry,” she muttered, not looking at him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I’m sorry that you have to put up with me.”

He rested his forehead against hers and nudged her nose with his. “As I’ve said before, I’m not putting up with anything. I love you.”

“Why?”

“Because you are the most wonderful, crazy, loving and passionate person I have ever met and the best thing that has ever happened to me in my whole entire life.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, “Your life must have been pretty shitty if I’m the best thing.”

“Everyone’s life is shitty, if you’re not a part of it,” he whispered against her lips.

Warmth filled her and she kissed him harshly. He kissed her back with the same passion, until he suddenly pulled away from her.

“Octavia stop trying to get your phone.”

She glared up at him, “Fine,” she huffed, “But I will call him tomorrow.”

“That perfectly fine.” He gave her a kiss before he pulled them down to the bed and under the covers. He turned off the light and wrapped his arms around her, cocooning her in his warmth.

She sighed contently, “I love you, despite the fact you’re a traitor.”

“Love you, too.”

~*~

Bellamy denied the existence of his secret girlfriend when Octavia confronted him of it, much to her dismay. She hoped he would just admit to everything, but no he had to be a stubborn ass about it.

She knew he was lying, once he smiled and walked away from her there was no denying it.

She asked Miller, because if anyone would know, he would and he avoided her questions and soon started avoiding her as well. It was an indisputable fact now, Bellamy Blake had a girlfriend.

She started watching her brother more closely, seeing how he interacted with different females and their female friends. When she saw nothing in particular that screamed SECRET GIRLFRIEND, she decided to make a list of girls who fit the profile.

The girl would be pretty and definitely sexy, decently athletic, smart and stubborn, could hold her liquor and would be tough as nails, and loved or owned dogs. She was more than likely a tall brunette who was into sports and probably had the same do it yourself mentality as her brother did. And probably also had an unnatural love for boring historical documentaries or at least was able tolerate them.

Lincoln said she was taking things too far but continued to give her the names of the girls that Bellamy knew.

“Roma?”

“No.”

Roma and Bellamy had dated and definitely had hooked up throughout the years, but Octavia could see no reason for the two of them to keep their relationship a secret. She doubted that Roma could keep that to herself, that girl lived and breathed gossip.

“Clarke?”

Octavia paused, Clarke joined the group around the same time Bellamy would have started dating the mystery woman. She was pretty and sexy, but in a sophisticated way. She was a curvy petite blonde and while Octavia didn’t think that would be a deal breaker, it wasn’t exactly Bell’s type.

On the other hand Clarke was definitely smart and ungodly stubborn. She could be intensely terrifying and while she didn’t pick fights like Octavia or Raven did, it would be a cold day in hell before Clarke Griffin would concede. She also definitely liked similar nerdy things that Bellamy liked and probably even liked those god awful documentaries as well.

Still though Clarke was nothing like the girls Bellamy dated.

She hated exercise with a passion, glaring at Octavia when she suggested they go on a run together. Clarke did like football, but not hockey or boxing which were Bellamy’s two great loves. She had about the same tolerance as Harper when it came to alcohol, which was to say very little. She didn’t own any pets and definitely seemed like a cat person.

Clarke also came from a very wealthy and upper class background and money tended to rub Bellamy the wrong way, given their own family situation when they were young. Clarke was very generous with her money, while Bell acted like giving someone five bucks would be the end of him.

And Clarke most definitely did not have a do it yourself mentality, she would get very antsy when Raven or Wick suggested they could fix something or Lincoln and Bellamy would put their carpeting skills to the test.

Octavia tapped her pen against the table, finally putting an **X** next to Clarke’s name, only to cross it out and put a question mark instead.

She nodded at Lincoln to continue.

“Raven?”

Raven fit the bill in more ways than one way and if Wick wasn’t in the picture, Octavia would definitely put her among the top contenders. She put an **X** next to Raven’s name, there was no way she would ever cheat on anyone, not after what happened with Finn.

Eventually Octavia gave up on her list, there was a good chance that Octavia didn’t even know the girl. Also the next step she could foresee was for her to go to each girl and ask if they were sleeping with her brother and while Octavia may be pushy and demanding, even she had her limits.

~*~

In early May, Bellamy’s book was officially available online and even a few more hard copies had been printed out. Octavia held her own copy smiling as she read the dedication.

_This book is dedicated to my mother, Aurora Blake, who told me these stories when I was young. May her soul rest in peace._

_To my sister Octavia, for being my biggest supporter. My life didn’t begin until the day you were born O and for that I am eternally grateful to have you as my sister._

_Bellamy Blake_

Octavia insisted on the throwing a party for Bellamy in celebration, but eventually settled for a small get together with just good friends. The party was for him, so even she had to agree that Bellamy should get what he wanted, despite the fact he was wasting her party throwing skills.

Still though it was nice and Octavia was able to put all her effort into the decorations, Greek mythology themed decorations had been her biggest challenge to date, but she had fucking nailed it (with the help of Lincoln, Clarke and Maya).

She was particularly proud of her piñata rendition of Icarus flying towards the sun, it took forever and she did it all by herself. It had been one of her favorite stories growing up.

Bellamy was happy and was very proud of himself, maybe even as proud as she was of her Icarus piñata.

Everyone was talking and laughing and just having a good time.

Raven was sitting on Wick’s lap explaining to Clarke the inner workings of her latest home project, while Clarke was nodding politely sitting on the couch with Max curled up at her side, head resting on her lap as she scratched behind his ear.

Lincoln and Miller were having an arm wrestling completion and-

Wait what?

Octavia quickly turned back to Clarke. She was sitting casually, absentmindedly petting Max who was half asleep on her lap.

Max rarely did that for Bellamy or Octavia and he loved the two of them. Clarke was still relatively a stranger to Max, this was damn right freaky and almost insulting. It had taken Octavia almost two years to get him to accept Lincoln and she had only managed that by bribing him with treats when Bell wasn’t looking. That traitor, moseying up to Clarke like it was nothing.

Like he didn’t growl or bark at every single person he saw, like he wasn’t one of the most stubborn and unfriendly dogs to exist. Like it didn’t take Bellamy months for Max to finally trust him.

And there was Clarke, acting the same, like it was no big deal. Like this was normal.

_Oh My God._

Octavia was an idiot. It was Clarke. Clarke and Bellamy were dating. She was the secret girlfriend. And in a second everything that didn’t add up about Bellamy in the past year made perfect sense. Miller must have known or found out and that’s why he cared about Clarke learning self-defense, because Bellamy loved her.

Octavia paused, a second realization hitting her. Bellamy and Clarke weren’t just secretly hooking up or dating, they were in love.

It was so obvious. How could she have not noticed? Bellamy was completely and absolutely in love with Clarke.

“It’s you.”

Clarke blinked and turned to look at Octavia in confusion, Raven and Wick joining her.

“Hmm?”

“You and Bell, you’re dating and you’ve been dating since last August.” While Octavia wasn’t yelling, she certainly wasn’t whispering and she had gotten more of the room’s attention.

Raven and Wick started laughing like hyenas, others soon joined them at the crazy accusation, but she ignored them and focused on Clarke.

Her eyes widened and her mouth was slightly opened in shock and an ever increasing blush crept up her neck onto her face. She looked at Bellamy, who was just as silent as she was and then back to Octavia and then she lowered her gaze to Max’s head on her lap.

It soon became obvious that neither Bellamy nor Clarke were denying it and the realization started to hit everyone.

“Wait really, you two?” Raven asked, gesturing with her beer at the two of them.

“Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other.” Clarke said quietly.

“For how long?” Jasper demanded, looking betrayed for some odd reason.

Bellamy scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “Um…I guess we started dating in July, but we started getting together in May.”

“May!!” Several people exclaimed.

“Hold on,” Raven said glaring intently, “You two have been dating for a year and didn’t think to tell us, your closest friends. What the hell guys?”

“Miller knew.” Clarke said quickly and defensively.

Miller put his hands up defensively, “Don’t look at me. I found out purely by accident.”

“Still though. How long have you know?” Wick asked.

“Um…February I think."

“You’ve known for almost three months and you didn’t tell anyone,” Jasper said accusingly.

“I told Monty.”

“Monty?” If Jasper didn’t look betrayed before, he certainly did now.

“Thanks hon,” Monty was avoiding Jasper’s glare. “I was sworn to secrecy okay, and they seemed so happy and I didn’t want to ruin anything for them and um, the two of them kind of scare me.” He muttered, before pointing to Roma. “And Roma knew this whole entire time.”

Everyone turned to her and she simply shrugged, “It was so damn obvious, I’m surprised none of you noticed. And also, HA, to all of you that said that I could never keep a damn secret. What do you think of me now sluts?” Roma said, finishing off with a crude gesture.

“Unbelievable.” Harper said.

Monroe nonchalantly commented. “It’s not that big of a deal, it’s not like they got married and kept it from us, like Sterling and Mel did. Oh shit.” She quickly covered her mouth and her eyes widened as she clearly spilled a secret she wasn’t supposed to.

“Monroe!” Sterling hissed.

“I’m sorry, it just came out.”

“Well for the sake of being fair, I think everyone should know that Monroe doesn’t have a dying aunt, she just says that to get out of doing shit.” Sterling said vindictively.

“Oh my god.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh like you’re one to talk, you slept with your boss to get a promotion.”

“Jesus Christ.”

It went on like that for quite some time, all of them pointing their fingers at each other and exposing one another’s secrets. Octavia learned more about her friends that night, then she had ever wished to know.

She turned to look at Bellamy, who had moved to sit next to Clarke on the couch. He wrapped his arm around her as she held her face in embarrassment. He was grinning and whispering something in her ear that seemed to have mollified her.

Octavia smiled, she would definitely be giving the two of them or Bellamy at the very least a very vocal piece of her mind, but for now she was happy to see him clearly happy and in love.

Lincoln came up from behind her and hugged her. “Should we go before people start revealing our secrets?”

“Please, they have nothing on us.”

“Is that so? How about how you scared every girl away from Lincoln for months before you got together.”

“Yeah. I already knew that.” Lincoln said, kissing the top of her head.

Octavia laughed. “Bring it bitches, you got nothin’ on me.” She smugly watched as her friends soon turned against her trying to bring up her so called _'secrets'_  as she snuggled into Lincoln’s chest.


End file.
